As a frequent public transit user, I am deeply frustrated that CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. used his platform in Thursday’s City Council Transportation Committee hearing to suggest that alders and transit advocates are making him a “target” . Carter is the politically appointed official tasked with leading the CTA — elected officials “target” him because our political system makes it so.
Put differently, if not Carter, who should alders call upon when constituents complain that they can no longer rely on the train or bus to get them where they need to go? My alderperson, Angela Clay (who is Black) signed on to the City Council calling for Carter’s resignation. Her decision followed an email to constituents in April in which she called for “new leadership” at the CTA. Without naming Carter once, she explained that “as a frequent CTA rider myself, I know the frustrations firsthand of waiting for a bus or train that never shows.
” Coupled with unsanitary conditions, reductions in service and overworked staff, Clay informed us that “CTA hasn’t come to the table to discuss how we can chart a path forward” and that new leadership was warranted for that reason. Her email eloquently conveyed the message of every elected official and advocate I have heard who has spoken on this issue, none of whom have attacked Carter personally. At the hearing, Carter had the opportunity to — in his own agency’s words — “meet the moment” and constructively resp.